The ‘Saving Endangered Species Youth Art Contest’ Helps Wildlife
By: Shirley Xi
The Endangered Species Coalition announced its annual Saving Endangered Species Youth Art Contest on their website. The Endangered Species Coalition uses the chance of the art contest to spread the idea of environmental causes for wildlifes and give a chance for the ones that have a great passion for art.
The contest winners are selected by many honored artist, photographers, filmmakers and creative directors. The grand prize winner will be welcomed at at the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Congressional Reception in Washington, D.C. on May 8 and will receive a special art lesson from a professional wildlife artist and $50-worth of art supplies of their choice. All elementary, middle school, and high school students are encouraged to join. More than 1,500 artist had joined the contest in 2018, which was a huge achievement to the Endangered Species Coalition. This contest provides students in the United States an opportunity to learn about the endangered species and express their opinions through their art works. According to , he is deeply inspired by the young artists. “Through the visual arts, I try to celebrate our vanishing species, and I am glad to be joined by these inspiring young artists,” said photographer Andrew Zuckerman.
The Saving Endangered Species Youth Art Contest is an important part of the annual Endangered Species Day; on the third Friday of May each year (May, 17, 2019). The Endangered Species Day started in 2006 by the United States Congress is an opportunity for people of all ages to learn about the importance of protecting endangered species and taking everyday actions to help protect the. “We owe it to this generation of children to pass down healthy ecosystems brimming with wildlife,” said Leda Huta, Executive Director of the Endangered Species Coalition. “Every year, their artwork demonstrates how deeply they feel for nature and all of its wondrous creatures – large and small.”
Across the country, organizations hold special events to celebrate Endangered Species Day. The Saving Endangered Species Youth Art Contest is one of them, and it’s for the ones who have a great passion for art and the wildlifes. For more information about the annual art contest, winners and Endangered Species Day, visit www.endangered species day.org.
The artist Chris Jordan strives to make the world a better place
By: Allison Ma
Many people don’t realize just how wasteful human can be, however, with just a few simple photographs, Chris Jordan, an environmental artist, is showing people the waste and destruction on our planet through his pieces.
Jordan’s plan is to stir others people's emotions. “If we can’t comprehend the issue then we don’t feel anything, therefore we don’t act. I’m trying to create these images that point towards comprehension of the issues, so it’s not just intellectual exercise. If we feel angry, or sad, or frightened, that is when we act decisively,” says Jordan. He believes that by changing how other people feel about the waste on our planet, they will begin to realize that our habits are contributing to the waste.
Jordan believes if he does not take action, people will continue to believe that our advancing technology will someday be the solution to everything. Therefore, he has decided to take matters into his own hands.
In the beginning of his career, most of his work was about mass consumption. These pieces of art showed humans how many cell phones were unused, how many paper cups were used in 15 minutes, and much more. Examples of these pieces were Plastic Cups and Paper Bags. However, after one of his exhibitions, a woman walked up to him and said he should also make art about social issues. That is how many amazing pieces of art were created.
With a lot of effort and talent, Jordan becomes closer to his goal of making the world a better place through the thing he loves - art.
Paper Bags - http://arcadenw.org/blog/the-art-of-waste-the-photography-of-chris-jordan
Plastic Cups - https://www.pinterest.com/pin/222154194094269236/
Waste Diagram - https://frontiergroup.org/reports/fg/trash-america
Throughout history, African art is made to show spiritual beliefs, nature and history.
By: Amber Bai
Throughout history, African art highlights the work of nature, spiritual beliefs of the Africans and its history. Throughout the years Africans have made art such as clay sculptures, masks made from beads and statues. They use these to express the idea of spiritual beliefs and their culture, they often use wooden masks to represent ancestors, often times ceremonial dancers wear them. In addition Africans also use statues and sculptures to represent, connect to or communicate to spiritual forces.
Africans have also made art according to nature, they have replicated zebra stripes, trees, and more. It is known they do this because of the beauty of nature. Willie Wamuti is a African artist, he shares his opinion on African art by saying “What I love is the diversity of displayed art and the interesting themes addressed by African works of art.”
Africans have also been known to do repeating patterns, one reason for this is for the beauty of it but another contributing fact is to relate to nature. Africans have often copied Nature into making beautiful hairstyles. For example many have made the familiar swirl of a tree on their head. As African culture expands more and more pieces of art will continue to advance creatively to represent beliefs.
Artists use materials found in nature to making different artworks
By: Amber Bai
Artists have long been making beautiful art pieces using only natural materials. You might think that making art with nature is easy, but think again after you read this. Making art using natural materials has been evolving throughout time and is still evolving, natural art started during the stone age, at this time people would take organic and natural pigments to carve and paint on cave walls.
Depending on the artist, styles of art will vary. Most art pieces are created ephemerally, meaning is that it can’t last forever. Some artists create pieces to highlight environmental issues such as pollution or climate change, artists Like other forms of art, environmental art can be any shape or size. For example Patrick Dougherty uses wooden straws to create really big sculptures. Another artist who creates breathtaking sculptures is Mary Jo Hoffman, she uses photography of nature and nature itself to sculpt household decorations and beautiful portraits of leaves assembled in different positions. She says “I spent most of my time playing, exploring, swimming, and collecting outdoors. It’s where I’ve always gone to feel centered and connected.” She also has a website called Still where she posts blogs and descriptions of her artwork.
On the other hand, building art from nature doesn’t have to be hard, it can be as simple as making mandalas or taking leaves from a garden. Art from nature doesn’t have to be complicated, all it takes is a creative mind and nature.
Why is making art with nature so valuable?
Often times natural art is ephemeral (e·phem·er·al) meaning it
can only last briefly and should be viewed while it lasts. This is because unlike paint nature can almost never last an eternity. And will dry up in a matter of days or weeks.
Van Gogh known as a tragic artist, but what was his life actually like?
By: Jianing Cai
As one of the world’s most famous but tragic artists, Vincent Willem Van Gogh was remembered as an Dutch post-impressionist who was capable of capturing great beauty and depth of emotion in his many artworks. During his lifetime, he produced more than 2,000 artworks, consisted of around 900 paintings, 1,100 drawings and sketches.
Vincent Van Gogh was born on March 30, 1853 and died on July 29, 1890, because of the mental illness he suffered from. He even cut of part of his own left ear at a rage after his friendship ended with Gauguin. He was known as the artist “who discourses on madness and creativity converge ”. ( By Melissa McQuillan who wrote a book about Van Gogh.)
Vincent Van Gogh lived in poverty during his life and relied on his brother, Theo’s finance support for living and making artworks. However, he was unsuccessful during his lifetime, he only sold out one of his paintings when he was alive. He became famous after his suicide when he was 37, and people started to approbated his unique style of paintings.
He was most famous for his paintings, because his paintings were notable for its beauty, emotion and color that were included inside. He was one of the few artists who can express their emotion through a piece of artwork. As a result of the way people thought of his artworks, eventually he began to doubt his own artworks and thought that they were abnormal. He had also thought that one of his greatest artworks: The Starry Night was
His sadness finally ended in July 29, 1890 when he shot himself in the chest and ended his life with a Lefaucheux revolver. According to his brother, Theo Van Gogh, Vincent Van Gogh’s last words were: “ The sadness will last forever.”
Little known interesting facts about famous paintings and artists
By: Jianing Cai
If you want to impress your friends by showing them how much do you know about famous paintings and artists, or you like art, and you also like to know interesting facts about them, then you did came to the right place to find out more about it.
Mona Lisa is known as the most beautiful woman of all times. People often thought of her smile as “ the perfect smile”, a smile that was being captured perfectly by Leonardo da Vinci. However, there are also a lot of questions unanswered circling around this painting. Questions such as: why is it that she has no eyebrows, or how was she related to Da Vinci? There are many different hypothesis about it. But according to my research, Mona Lisa is actually a member of the well-known florentine family and wife of a wealthy silk merchant- Lisa Gherardini. As for her eyebrows, Leonardo Da Vinci was not able to finish this painting along with some of the other paintings that he left unfinished.
There was a new discovery that many other of Vincent Van Gogh’s paintings were hidden behind the canvas of his other paintings. Which means that he painted over his own paintings on the same canvas. Van Gogh live in poverty during his lifetime, it was another little trick to save more of his money. " It's not just Van Gogh," says van der Loeff. " Artists from Picasso to Rembrandt painted over their own work. Indeed, most painters, being creative people, were not always rich, and reused their canvas.”
Leonardo Da Vinci was also a vegetarian and animal rights activist; he would buy caged animals and set them free. Although he lived for 67 years, he left fewer than 30 paintings and these paintings were not even all finished. But he also he also left hundreds of drawings, sketches, and pages of notes. Da Vinci was ambidextrous. He have been able to write with one hand and draw with the other hand at the same time. He also developed a system of writing backwards to note down important findings and secret messages that he doesn’t want the others to understand. His secret way of writing that can only be read when reflecting it on a mirror.
Did you realize now that many paintings and artists have a lot of interesting history? You can learn about them and entertain yourself as you read about them.
Glossary
Rembrandt: Rembrandt Harmenszoon Van Rijn was a Dutch painter and printmaker.
Vegetarian: A person who does not eat meat, and sometimes other animal products.
Ambidextrous: A person who is able to use the right and left hands equally well.
Anime: why is it worth it to watch?
By: Shirley Xi
As anime becomes popular over the years, anime has turned into a very controversial topic. Some people might think anime just cartoon for adults, but anime is way more than adult cartoons; anime has a good influence on people and it’s very entertaining.
Anime is a style of Japanese animation. The characteristics of anime emerged in the early 1940s such as Momotarō no Umiwashi (1943). This film was made during World War II and they are considered the “father” of anime. In the 1980s, anime became mainstream in Japan and many parts of the world because of the popularity of anime such as Gundam, Macross, and Dragonball. After the 2010, anime became more popular than ever because of many interesting anime such as Hunter x Hunter, Sword Art Online, One Punch Man, Attack On Titan, Kill La Kill, My Hero Academia, and Re: Zero.
Some people might ask: what makes anime so special and great? Well, most anime fans can sum it up in two words: “It’s unique.” Anime has a new and astonishing way of storytelling, animation, character design, and anime makes the viewers have a real emotional involvement with the characters. Watching anime is like reading a really good book. The characters are usually fully developed and the characters usually have some kind of specialty. But viewers feel they can relate to the characters because usually, the characters have their own little secrets and their struggles. According to Hayao Miyazaki, the famous Japanese animator, filmmaker, screenwriter, author, and manga artist, he is deeply impressed by the power of storytelling and how it plays a role not in just anime but in life. “Success? I do believe in the power of story. I believe that stories have an important role to play in the formation of human beings, that they can stimulate, amaze and inspire their listeners." The animation of an anime is done by a team of experts that have a passion for animation and lots of experiences already, and because of that, the animation is usually visually entertaining. This makes the anime much better than most cartoons and other animations.
Some people might argue: anime doesn’t teach you anything. Well, that’s actually not true. Most anime have a positive and inspiring theme that will teach you an important life lesson. The anime My Hero Academia teaches the viewers to never give up on your dreams and the power of perseverance. The story is about in a world populated with superhumans, Izuku Midoriya, a boy without a superpower, his dream of becoming a hero seemed impossible. But, because Izuku Midoriya never gives up on his dreams and his perseverance, he became the greatest hero of all. Izuku Midoriya’s hard work and determination set him up for success. Many more anime teaches viewers an important lesson, and My Hero Academia is just one of them.
Anime is something that could be shared and enjoyed by everyone. So make sure you go watch a few after reading this article!
Top 10 most viewed Kpop group music videos in the first 24 hours
By: Allison Ma
If you are a fan of Kpop, do you sometimes don’t know who’s music video to watch? If you ever feel this way, here are the top 10 Kpop group music videos that blew up in the first 24 hours of their debut.
10. “Dalla Dalla (달라달라)" - Itzy (JYP Entertainment) 17.1 Million Views
Itzy is JYP Entertainment’s newest girl group. Because JYP is one of the top three industries, their music video broke Boombayah’s (Blackpink's debut song) record for most views on a K-pop girl group debut music video in 24 hours. This song is very different from normal K-pop girl group songs. Usually, the songs have a cute theme and are about love. However, “Dalla Dalla” specifically mean different in Korean. In the song, Itzy sings about how they are different from other people (or groups) and are proud of who they are. Many people love this song and are looking forward to Itzy’s next comeback.
9. “Dance the Night Away” - Twice (JYP Entertainment) 19.6 Million Views
Twice is currently one of the most popular girl groups. Their song, “Dance the Night Away” got 19.6 million views in the first 24 hours. Although you might not realize the message behind this song right away, once you find out what it is, you will view the song in a completely different way. In the music video, the members of Twice are stuck on an abandoned island, not knowing what to do. However, instead of panicking, they immediately build a shelter and find food, making the best out of their situation. When help finally comes, they turn away because they are finally happy where they are. This song sends a strong message that when making the best out of everything, you will be happy.
8. “DNA (방탄소년단)” - BTS (BigHit Entertainment) 22.3 Million Views
BTS is a very popular boy group who has many fans. Their song, DNA, is part of the mini-album Love Yourself Her. This song is about how you need to look within and love yourself. The leader of BTS, Kim Namjoon states, “If you can’t love yourself, you can’t love others.” Many people believe that this is why their album name is Love Yourself Her. Loving yourself comes first, before you can love her. The message behind this song and album is very powerful and many people would learn a lot from this song.
7. “Yes or Yes” - Twice (JYP Entertainment) 31.4 Million Views
“Yes or Yes”, by Twice, is about rejection. In the song, it seems like they are asking someone a question that requires the answer “yes” or “no”. However, they will not take no as an answer and want a definite answer. They say they will make it easy for “you” and give “you” two options. “Yes” or “Yes”. This almost makes the listener think that they were rejected before and don’t want to face rejection again.
6. “Fake Love (방탄소년단)” - BTS (BigHit Entertainment) 35.9 Million Views
BTS’s song, “Fake Love” is about love that isn’t real. If someone is in a relationship and isn’t really in love and being true to themselves, the relationship won’t last. The song also states “I’m so tired of this fake love”, almost as if the members of BTS themselves are tired of people loving them because of their fame, and not their personality. In a situation like this, both people in the relationship don’t actually love each other and will quickly fall apart. However, we are sure BTS loves their fans and would do almost anything for them.
5. “DDU-DU DDU-DU (뚜두뚜두)” - Blackpink (YG Entertainment) 36.2 Million Views
In the song “DDU-DU DDU-DU”, by Blackpink, the four members sing about the judgement of people. In the scene with Kim Jisoo, the visual of Blackpink, there are many people taking pictures of the “perfect” her. However, when a wig wearing Jisoo walks by and accidently trips, the camera people immediately turn their cameras to her, like they are criticizing her. This song shows us that even though people are quick to judge, Blackpink will deal with the hate messages in their own way.
4. “Fancy” - Twice (JYP Entertainment) 38.5 Million Views
This song is about how many girls are afraid to ask other people out because they are afraid they are not good enough. In the music video, each member of Twice represents the female lead of famous movies. It also tells guys that if they never ask a girl out, they will never have the chance to be with her. The guy believes they are too perfect and he also believes that he will never be good enough for them.
3. “IDOL (방탄소년단)” - BTS (BigHit Entertainment) 45.9 Million Views
This song is about how other people can’t change who BTS actually is. There is a lot of traditional Korean music incorporated into this song. Many people believe this is because BTS is trying to tell people that other people can’t stop them from loving themselves. The song states, “Can’t stop me from loving myself.”, making people think that BTS is trying to show people that no one can change who they are and who they want to be.
2. “Kill This Love” - Blackpink (YG Entertainment) 56.7 Million Views
“Kill This Love” is about the members of Blackpink fighting against themselves. They no longer want to be weak and hurt by their emotions. So instead of letting their emotions control them, they get rid of the weaker part of themselves, hoping that they won’t be hurt over love ever again. Instead of being depressed and taken advantage of their whole lives, Blackpink is deciding to take control of their own lives. They must do it even though it is “Sad but true.”
1. Boy With Luv - BTS (BigHit Entertainment) 78 Million Views
Many fans believe that this song is a tribute to the famous movie Singing in the Rain. This is because of all the posters advertising for Singing in the Rain and the scenes in the music video that are very similar to scenes in the movie. Perhaps the members of BTS just loved this movie too much.
Kpop is slowly becoming increasingly popular internationally. As groups receive more love, they continue to produce music. Not only do many people love their music, they fall in love with the idols looks and cute personality.
How D&D was made… A Fantasy RPGs Story
In 1971, Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson started making the popular Roleplaying Game (RPG) Dungeons and Dragons, also known as D&D.
D&D was made with a fantasy wargaming vibe, but instead of fielding armys, the players play as characters, completely customizable and different through a wide variety of races and classes.This game uses the D20 System to determine action outcome by character.
D&D has huge Tolkien influences, which is shown in some of the names of monsters. For example Ent, in Lord of the Rings is converted into Treant in the D&D Monster Manual. Balrog, also from the Lord of the Rings, has been changed to Balor, in the D&D Monster Manual. Last but not least, the Hobbit was converted into Halfling in the D&D Player's Handbook. Gary Gygax hadn't admitted that there was Tolkien influence until 2000 when he, in an interview, said Tolkien's work was a "strong impact" in the creation of D&D.
Balor--------------------------->Balrog
D&D is currently in its fifth edition. Whereas the first edition “starter set” was a box with the three rulebooks in it, the fifth edition “starter set” is similar, but it includes a mini core rules, a few pre-made characters, an adventure booklet, and some dice. The additions to this for fifth edition include the large selection of character options in the Player’s Handbook (PHB), a large selection of monsters in the Monster Manual (MM), and last but not least the Dungeon Masters Guide (DMG). These are available to people that decide the want go further into the game and start their own D&D campaign, adventure, and/or party of players to adventure with weekly, biweekly, monthly, or even just once in a long while. Mike Mearls, the lead developer for D&D fifth edition, says “I can’t emphasize this enough… we’re very serious about taking the time we need to get this right.”
Most recommended tabletop games in my opinion
by: Cameron Day
Putting D&D aside, which is definitely my top favorite, some tabletop games I consider in my top 3 games are Warhammer Age of Sigmar (AOS) (published by Games Workshop), X-Wing (published by Fantasy Flight Games), Memoir ‘44 (published by Days of Wonder).
First I will tell you about Warhammer Age of Sigmar, a fantasy wargaming game that uses miniatures to represent soldiers in units (groups of troops that move together), powerful endless spells, and terrifying heros. The game is completely customizable with minis that come unpainted and in pieces for you to assemble. But that isn’t all, because the minis have a purpose, to be used in a large scale battles against friends and other people, forcing people with the game to socialize. According to the GeekDad website, “the game is easy to learn, fluid to play,” and above all (in my opinion) very social.
Next, I will talk about the Star Wars fantasy battle game, a 2 player game where you an a friend field a selection of starships from Star Wars to dogfight with each other. The game is a fast paced tactical wargame the uses shaped rulers to move. The game also uses custom dice to decide hits and misses for attacks, dodges and other abilities. According to Wikipedia, “the game is quick to learn, short and tactical.” I would say this is correct, but my only complaint is in the starter kit, in which you get 3 ships (2 TIE Fighters and 1 X-Wing) and the sides are not balanced. Luckily they do sell expansions to the starter kit, but there still isn’t enough in the starter kit.
Last but not least, I am going to introduce the game Memoir ‘44. This game breaks the mold of the games I have chosen previously, but it is nonetheless
a great game. This game is a actual board game, and has lots of figures to represent different types of soldiers. The game is set in World War II, and is made to recreate famous battles in the war. Instead of showing you how to play step by step to make the battle accurate, the game allows let you move your soldiers to your advantage, using cards, to give you a unique game. The good thing is the set comes with set-up instructions for 12 battles in the book. According to the website BoardGameGeek “the game by design, is not overly complex.”
Now that you have read about my top 3 recommended board games, which include Warhammer Age of Sigmar (AOS) (published by Games Workshop), X-Wing (published by Fantasy Flight Games), Memoir ‘44 (published by Days of Wonder), you can now go and try them out yourself, share them with friends, or play them in a tournament. I hope you enjoy them!